Bibliothek

Muir Valley Nature Preserve and Climbing Arena

Muir Valley, LLC is a nature preserve and rock climbing area owned and maintained by Rick and Liz Weber. The Valley is approximately 400 acres in size and walled in by over seven miles of majestic cliffs of hard Corbin Sandstone that range in height from 20 feet to over 200 feet. Waterfalls cascading off the cliffs abound, as do caves and stone bottom creeks. Mountain laurel, rhododendron, and many other species of wildflowers and plants grace the valley floor and hillsides. Muir Valley is indeed one of the prettiest little places of natural beauty to be found anywhere.

Although privately owned, Muir Valley may be freely enjoyed by all.hikers, climbers, and folks just sauntering through taking in the spectacular beauty of the valley. No admission fees are charged. As such, the Valley falls under the provisions of Kentucky.s Recreational Use Laws.

Because there is no outside funding or revenue stream, we appreciate your time and efforts in helping us maintain the land and its trails. You may climb, hike, and enjoy the natural beauty as our guests, but at your own risk.

Rules for Visitors to Muir Valley

You must fill out a waiver on muirvalley.org before climbing in this region.

1. You must read and understand the documents .Warnings to Visitors to Muir Valley. and the Kentucky Recreational Use Statute. Your presence in Muir Valley signifies that you agree that you have been adequately warned by Muir Valley Nature Preserve, LLC (MVNP) of hazards that may exist in Muir Valley and that you consider MVNP in full compliance with the provisions of this statute.

2. You must notify MVNP as soon as reasonably possible of any unusual dangerous condition or hazard in the Valley,of which you may become aware.

3. To rock climb in Muir Valley, you must first submit and have accepted the Muir Valley Release Form. You must either fill out and submit this form on line at www.muirvalley.com or do so on a temporary paper form, good for three days, available at the kiosk at the main Muir Valley parking lot.

4. You must be eighteen years of age or older or be accompanied by your parent, your legal guardian, or responsible adult to enter this property. Those minors climbing with a responsible adult, such as a professional rock climbing guide, must have had the Muir Valley Release Form completed and submitted on-line on their behalf by their parent or legal guardian before entering Muir Valley. Climbers under age 18, who can demonstrate a proficiency in rock climbing, will be permitted to climb in Muir Valley on a case-by-case basis and only with special permission of the MVNP.

5. Persons under the age of eighteen years (minors) must be supervised by their parent, legal guardian, or responsible adult and remain in the presence of that parent or guardian 100% of the time that the minor spends in Muir Valley.

8. Climbing of a type known as free soloing or highballing, which is done without proper and adequate protection in the form of rope belaying, spotting, or using bouldering pads, is unnecessarily dangerous and not permitted in Muir Valley. The only three forms of rock climbing permitted in Muir Valley are sport climbing, wherein the climber utilizes hanger brackets bolted to the rock faces, for protection, trad climbing, wherein the climber provides and temporarily affixes his/her own passive and active gear to the rock faces for protection, and bouldering, wherein the climber, sans rope, climbs routes that remain close to the ground and uses bouldering pads to provide a safer landing. Aid climbing is not permitted in Muir Valley.

9. Do not climb above the anchors or top out on any climb in Muir Valley.

10. Do not toprope through the anchor chains (or rings). This means do not run your rope from the belayer up and through the anchor hardware and back down to the climber. This produces unnecessary wear on the anchor hardware and may increase risk to you or climbers who use this hardware subsequent to your use of it. Instead, attach quickdraws or carabiners and slings to the anchor system and run your toprope through them.

11. Unintentional falling is part of responsible rock climbing. Rock climbers are expected to be experienced and skilled in the technique of taking falls, and belayers are expected to be experienced and skilled in safely arresting the falls of the climbers they are belaying.

12. No rock climbing routes of any kind may be put up in MVNP without the written permission of MVNP. If you wish to put up a climbing route, FIRST contact the owners with your ideas PRIOR to starting the project and they can help you get started. We are keeping a database of route setting projects in the valley. All new routes must have a database ID and be approved buy the owners (or their representatives). This is necessary to prevent overbolting and inappropriate setting of routes. No hardware of any kind may be permanently affixed to any rock in Muir Valley without the written permission of the MVNP.

13. Please pack out all trash, especially non-biodegradable trash and toilet paper. Please do not throw cigarette butts on the ground. And, thank you for carrying out trash left by others!

14. Dogs are not allowed in Muir Valley. This includes the parking lot. Leaving your dog tied to your car or, worse yet, shut in your car puts you dog at unreasonable risk of injury or death by overheating.

15. Harvesting of plants or plant specimens is to be done only with the expressed specific permission of MVNP owners.

16. Please do not damage trees and vegetation. Stay on existing trails. The Valley has been recently lightly logged. In time, the land cut by the more severe logging trails will be restored to its natural state. New footpaths may be established only with prior approval of the Muir Valley Owners.

17. Absolutely no digging for and/or removal of relics will be permitted in caves, rock shelters, or anywhere else in Muir Valley.

18. Please respect our neighbors' property and privacy. Drive slowly on the approach road. Children are often present. Park only on Muir Valley land in areas designated for parking.

Directions to Bibliothek

Continue walking past Animal Crackers Wall for a few hundred feet until you reach a steep ravine near a large ampitheater. Walk down the sandy ravine and cross a small stream near the bottom. Hike a short distance up and around the corner you'll reach an overhanging wall with several bolted lines. The routes Tea at the Palaz of Hoon through 100 Years of Solitude are located on this main wall from left to right. To reach American Psycho through A Confederacy of Dunces continue walking past the main wall about 100 feet.

Wall Sun: Morning to early afternoon

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some miscommunication between rick weber and i resulted in the ratings being inverted. the online guide has the names and grades correct now. of those routes that are open, "the unbearable..." is just to the right of the large tree (the leftmost open route as of today). "100 years" is the rounded arete on the far right. josh and i will be trying to get the other climbs up and open a.s.a.p.

This area reminds me of the Torrent Falls 11 wall. Every single route feels 11b/c regardless of length or designated grade. Let the rhetoric begin. "This route should be 11d because of that move. No, this one should be 11b because it is ten feet shorter. No, this one should be 11c because the start is slippery."

no doubt JR..I couldn't agree more.....The Sound, The Fury, Confederacy of Dunces..I bolted them all, and every one of them felt identical in difficulty.....I was thinkning of the Bib challenge. Starting on the left or right, send every route in order down the wall in a day....once the final 5-6 lines get put in, then would be a good training day no doubt.

all of them EXCEPT "the sound & the fury" which kipp so elegantly divided in half. a couple are short stories and one is a poem. i majored in english and managed a bookstore. when i first saw the area i thought of the 11s at torrent (which are all one-word route names) and wanted to go the other direction (longer titles). the last two on the right side will likely be "tea at the palace of hoon" and "trout fishing in america".

yeah...if piggie had insisted on his reading list it would have included "how to wear a kilt in kentucky (and not get killed)", "h & r block: the devil in the strip mall", and "ryan & trista's wedding album"

Start on the first bolt of the Stranger and then clip the second Everything Rises, and continue diagonally up and left to climb Strange Old Hung Horses Rise and Converge in the Lightness of Being. Still 11c.

yes they are in order from right to left. The first route listed is on the hike in and then things are pretty straight forward. I think The Unbearalbe LIghtness of Being is marked with a silver tag at the base as a 12a but it has long since been downgraded.

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Route details are copyright Ray Ellington, John Bronaugh, and other Red River Gorge climbers. Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport. The information in this guidebook is subject to error and should supplement never replace common sense and caution, competent guidance and instruction, and actually being outside. One should be especially cautious on matters of route length, descent type, and number of bolts (especially since such things do change occasionally).